Cultural Identity and the Academic, Social, and Psychological Adjustment of Adolescents with Immigration Background.

As Western societies become more ethnically and culturally diverse, understanding the acculturation of immigrant youth is essential for fostering social cohesion. How the cultural identity formation of ethnic minority adolescents relates to their academic, social, and psychological adjustment is an important and as yet unresolved research question. This study examined to what extent identifying with the heritage and/or host culture is an individual resource or risk factor for the adjustment of immigrant youth in Germany. A random sample of 15-17-year-olds (N = 1992; Mage_w1 = 15.3 years, SD = 0.64; 44.5% girls; 44.7% students with immigrant background) was assessed twice: at the end of 9th and 10th grade. Academic performance and three dimensions of social/psychological adjustment (school attachment, self-esteem, and life satisfaction) were examined. Results showed that biculturalism was the modal identification pattern. Contrary to expectations, cultural identification did not differ systematically with perceived distance from the majority culture. Multivariate structural equation modeling revealed that both heritage and host identification can be developmental resources, but that their effects are dependent on the dimension of adjustment; biculturalism only proved to be a cumulative resource for school attachment. The domain specificity of the findings challenges the generalization claims of predominant acculturation theories.

Korean infants' perceptual responses to Korean and Western music based on musical experience.

This study investigates infants' enculturation to music in a bicultural musical environment. We tested 49 12- to 30-month-old Korean infants on their preference for Korean or Western traditional songs played by haegeum and cello. Korean infants have access to both Korean and Western music in their environment as captured on a survey of infants' daily exposure to music at home. Our results show that infants with less daily exposure to any kind of music at home listened longer to all music types. The infants' overall listening time did not differ between Korean and Western music and instruments. Rather, those with high exposure to Western music listened longer to Korean music played with haegeum. Moreover, older toddlers (aged 24-30 months) maintained a longer interest in songs of an origin with which they are less familiar, indicating an emerging orientation towards novelty. Early orientation of Korean infants toward the novel experience of music listening is likely driven by perceptual curiosity, which drives exploratory behavior that diminishes with continued exposure. On the other hand, older infants' orientation towards novel stimuli is led by epistemic curiosity, which motivates an infant to acquire new knowledge. Korean infants' lack of differential listening likely reflects their protracted period of enculturation to ambient music due to complex input. Further, older infants' novelty-orientation is consistent with findings in bilingual infants' orientation towards novel information. Additional analysis showed a long-term effect of music exposure on infants' vocabulary development. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kllt0KA1tJk RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Korean infants showed novelty-oriented attention to music such that infants with less daily exposure to music at home showed longer listening times to music. 12- to 30-month-old Korean infants did not show differential listening to Korean versus Western music or instruments, suggesting a protracted period of perceptual openness. 24- to 30-month-old Korean toddlers' listening behavior indicated emerging novelty-preference, exhibiting delayed enculturation to ambient music compared to Western infants reported in earlier research. 18-month-old Korean infants with a greater weekly exposure to music had higher CDI scores a year later, consistent with the well-known music-to-language transfer effect.

Alcohol Use Severity among Hispanic Emerging Adults: Examining Intragroup Marginalization, Bicultural Self-Efficacy, and the Role of Gender within a Stress and Coping Framework.

Most research on cultural stressors and alcohol has focused on intercultural stressors. Continuing to exclude intracultural stressors (e.g., intragroup marginalization) from alcohol research will yield a biased understanding of the experiences of Hispanics living in a bicultural society. As we amass more studies on intracultural stressors, research will be needed to identify mutable sociocultural factors that may mitigate the association between intracultural stressors and alcohol. To address these limitations, we examined the association between intragroup marginalization and alcohol use severity and the extent to which gender and bicultural self-efficacy may moderate this association. A convenience sample of 200 Hispanic emerging adults ages 18-25 (men = 101, women = 99) from Arizona (n = 99) and Florida (n = 101) completed a cross-sectional survey. Data were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression and moderation analyses. Higher intragroup marginalization was associated with higher alcohol use severity. Gender functioned as a moderator whereby intragroup marginalization was associated with higher alcohol use severity among men, but not women. Also, higher social groundedness functioned as a moderator that weakened the association between intragroup marginalization and alcohol use severity. Role repertoire did not function as a moderator. Our findings are significant because they enhance the reliability of the association between intragroup marginalization and alcohol use severity, and the moderating effect of gender in this respective association. This emerging line of research suggests that alcohol interventions targeting Hispanics may have a significant limitation by not accounting for intracultural stressors.

Managing the unexpected: Bicultural identity integration during the COVID-19 emergency.

Unexpected and sudden emergency situations such as COVID-19 may render ethnic minorities particularly vulnerable to experiencing negative outcomes. Yet, we put forward that Bicultural Identity Integration (BII) - the degree to which bicultural individuals perceive their cultural identities as compatible and overlapping - may represent a resource in times of emergencies, since it may positively influence, through enhancement of psychological well-being, how bicultural individuals respond in terms of distress and coping strategies. Based on this assumption, the present study aimed at examining the relationship between BII and responses to COVID-19. N = 370 bicultural individuals (mean age = 26.83, SD = 8.74) from different cultural backgrounds were recruited online and completed measures of BII, psychological well-being, COVID-19 distress and coping strategies (positive attitudes, avoidance, social support seeking) during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. We tested a model in which BII was the predictor, psychological well-being was the mediator and reactions to the COVID-19 emergency (distress, use of coping) were the outcomes. This model was tested against two alternative models. The proposed model showed a better fit to the data compared to the alternative models. In this model, psychological well-being mediated the relationship between BII (harmony) and coping strategies, except social support seeking. These findings highlight the important role played by BII in emergency situations, as it may indirectly, through enhancement of psychological well-being, contribute to enhance biculturals' adaptive reactions in terms of distress as well as affect coping strategies during highly stressful events.

Acculturation profiles and alcohol use among Hispanic Americans.

Hazardous alcohol use among Hispanics makes for a critical public health issue that warrants empirical examination. Whereas research shows positive associations between alcohol-related outcomes and acculturation, it is unclear how enculturation and acculturation x enculturation are linked to alcohol use. Hispanic American undergraduate and graduate students (N = 348, 61.8% women, Mage = 21.82, 83.3% undergraduates) completed questionnaires assessing their levels of acculturation, enculturation, and alcohol use. Enculturation was negatively associated with social drinking-related consequences. Acculturation was positively associated with alcohol consumption, and enculturation buffered this association. Findings highlight the utility of considering acculturation profiles in understanding Hispanic alcohol use.

Longitudinal Changes Among Latino/a Immigrant Parental Acculturation and Extra-Familial Immigration-Related Stress.

Foreign-born Latino/a immigrants currently make up 12.9% of the total U.S. population. Latino/a immigrants continue to be exposed to widespread health and mental health care disparities. Scholarship focused on the needs of Latino/a immigrants continues to be characterized by multiple gaps. Latino/a immigrants and their families, particularly those with low family annual incomes, are exposed to multiple types of immigration-related stress. However, little is known about how immigration-related stress impacts couples. The objective of this investigation was to examine the interrelationship among acculturation and immigration-related stress as reported by a group of Latino/a immigrant parents who participated in a cultural adaptation parenting study. Data were provided by 78 two-parent families. The statistical approach consisted of latent growth curve analyses to examine rates of change over time. Findings indicated a potential protective role of biculturalism among Latino/a immigrant couples. Research, clinical, and policy implications are discussed.

Biculturalism in couple support for diabetes care in U.S.-born Chinese Americans.

Support in couples living with type 2 diabetes is associated with better health outcomes but support provision in collectivistic cultures has received limited research attention. To address this gap, we focused on couple dynamics and support in type 2 diabetes in U.S.-born Chinese Americans. Acculturation processes, particularly biculturalism, that is, the capacity to enact habits and practices from both the heritage and U.S. mainstream culture, were explored. Employing interpretive phenomenological methods, we conducted multiple narrative interviews with each of 15 couples regarding illness challenges and couple responses. Interviews were conducted in varied contexts, including with the couple, and in group interviews with people with diabetes or spouses. The unit of analysis was the couple, and narrative themes within the text were explored within the context of holistic couple summaries. We identified three key aspects of couple support: (i) Assisting with the diabetes treatment regimen; (ii) Moderating social and contextual factors that impede diabetes care; and (iii) Providing relational care and empathy for living with this challenging chronic condition. Support reflecting cultural maintenance of Chinese beliefs and practices include other directedness, family centeredness, and concerns for harmony and balance. Bicultural support patterns were also apparent in spousal communication that was both indirect and direct, and relationships marked by both interdependence and respect for independence or autonomy, reflecting both Chinese and U.S. cultural orientations, respectively. Working clinically with second and third generation Chinese immigrants requires clinical assessment of and responsiveness to couples' acculturation levels and bicultural skills.

Biculturalism dynamics: A daily diary study of bicultural identity and psychosocial functioning.

We examined two conceptualizations of bicultural identity - the Bicultural Identity Integration (BII) framework (cultural identity blendedness-distance and harmony-conflict) and cultural hybridizing and alternating (mixing one's two cultural identities and/or switching between them). Utilizing data from a 12-day diary study with 873 Hispanic college students, we examined three research questions: (1) cross-sectional and longitudinal inter-correlations among these biculturalism components, (2) links among daily variability in these biculturalism components, and (3) how this daily variability predicts well-being and mental health outcomes over time. Bicultural hybridizing was positively related to, and longitudinally predicted by, both BII blendedness and harmony. Daily fluctuation scores for BII blendedness, BII harmony, and bicultural hybridizing were strongly interrelated. Well-being was negatively predicted by fluctuations in hybridizing, whereas internalizing symptoms were positively predicted by fluctuations in blendedness. These results are discussed in terms of what biculturalism is and how best to promote it.

Culture Moderates Biases in Search Decisions.

Prior studies suggest that people often search insufficiently in sequential-search tasks compared with the predictions of benchmark optimal strategies that maximize expected payoff. However, those studies were mostly conducted in individualist Western cultures; Easterners from collectivist cultures, with their higher susceptibility to escalation of commitment induced by sunk search costs, could exhibit a reversal of this undersearch bias by searching more than optimally, but only when search costs are high. We tested our theory in four experiments. In our pilot experiment, participants generally undersearched when search cost was low, but only Eastern participants oversearched when search cost was high. In Experiments 1 and 2, we obtained evidence for our hypothesized effects via a cultural-priming manipulation on bicultural participants in which we manipulated the language used in the program interface. We obtained further process evidence for our theory in Experiment 3, in which we made sunk costs nonsalient in the search task-as expected, cross-cultural effects were largely mitigated.

Longitudinal trajectories of bicultural identity integration in recently immigrated Hispanic adolescents: Links with mental health and family functioning.

This study examined, in a sample of recently immigrated Hispanic adolescents in Miami and Los Angeles, the extent to which bicultural identity integration (BII; involving the ability to synthesise one's heritage and receiving cultural streams and to identify as a member of both cultures) is best understood as a developmental construct that changes over time or as an individual-difference construct that is largely stable over time. We were also interested in the extent to which these trajectories predicted mental health and family functioning. Recent-immigrant 9th graders (N = 302) were assessed 6 times from 9th to 12th grade. Latent class growth analyses using the first 5 timepoints identified 2 trajectory classes-one with lower BII scores over time and another with higher BII scores over time. Higher heritage and US identity at baseline predicted membership in the higher BII class. At the 6th study timepoint, lower BII adolescents reported significantly poorer self-esteem, optimism, prosocial behaviour and family relationships compared with their higher BII counterparts. These findings are discussed in terms of further research on the over-time trajectory of biculturalism, and on the need to develop interventions to promote BII as a way of facilitating well-being and positive family functioning.

Acculturation Style Is Associated with Stress and Tobacco Use among East African Immigrants.

While tobacco use rates are relatively high among East African immigrants in the U.S., factors contributing to this high rate are largely unknown. Acculturation is associated with stress and substance use. Whether acculturation styles are related to stress and current tobacco use has not been tested among this population. We conducted a cross-sectional study that included 376 East African adults who provided information on demographic background, acculturation style, acculturative stress, depressive symptoms, and tobacco use. Multivariate analysis indicated that individuals who were distant to both the culture of the host country and the culture of origin (marginalization style) had greater levels of acculturative stress than those who adopted both cultures (integration style; p < .001). Marginalized people were four to eight times and assimilated people were three to four times more likely than integration people to be a current tobacco user (p < .04). This relationship did not change after controlling for demographic information and stress. In this study, acculturation style was associated with perceived stress and current tobacco use among East African immigrants. Research focused on characterizing integrated individuals may guide efforts to develop culturally-relevant strategies to reduce tobacco-related disparities among East African individuals.

Barriers to Biculturalism: Historical Negation and Symbolic Exclusion Predict Longitudinal Increases in Bicultural Policy Opposition.

The colonial ideologies of historical negation and symbolic exclusion (i.e., the "Dark Duo") promote inequality between settler colonizers and Indigenous peoples by denying the contemporary relevance of past injustices and excluding Indigenous culture from the nation's identity, respectively. Although their correlates are established, the temporal ordering of the relationship between the Dark Duo and bicultural policy opposition is unclear. We address this oversight by utilizing nine annual waves of panel data from a nationwide random sample of New Zealand adults (N = 31,104) to estimate two multigroup RI-CLPMs using the Dark Duo to predict symbolic and resource-based policy opposition (and vice versa). Results revealed that within-person increases in historical negation and symbolic exclusion predicted subsequent increases in symbolic and resource-based bicultural policy opposition for both majority and minority ethnic groups. These relationships were, however, bidirectional, demonstrating a self-perpetuating cycle, whereby the Dark Duo undermines biculturalism and antibiculturalism strengthens the Dark Duo.

A Mediation Model for Biculturalism and Cigarette and Betel Nut Use: The Case of Adolescents in Guam.

The present study examined the associations between biculturalism and cigarette and betel nut use and the potential mediating roles of cigarette and betel nut use risk perception and resistance to peer and adult influence among adolescents in Guam. Participants were 673 ethnically diverse students (49% female; Mage = 12.7, SD = .89) from eight public middle schools. The results showed that biculturalism was not associated with cigarette use directly; however, this association was mediated by cigarette use risk perception and resistance to peer and adult influence. In other words, higher biculturalism was associated with more risk perception and then more resistance to peer and adult influence, which sequentially predicted less cigarette use. Similarly, the association between biculturalism and betel nut use was mediated by betel nut use risk perception and resistance to peer and adult influence. Higher biculturalism was associated with greater risk perception and then more resistance to peer and adult influence, which in turn resulted in less betel nut use. These findings can be used to inform the design and implementation of intervention and prevention programs targeting youth who are vulnerable to substance use.

Audio-Visual Interactions During Emotion Processing in Bicultural Bilinguals.

Despite the growing number of bicultural bilinguals in the world, the way in which multisensory emotions are evaluated by bilinguals who identify with two or more cultures remains unknown. In the present study, Chinese-English bicultural bilinguals from Singapore viewed Asian or Caucasian faces and heard Mandarin or English speech, and evaluated the emotion from one of the two simultaneously-presented modalities. Reliance on the visual modality was greater when bicultural bilinguals processed Western audio-visual emotion information. Although no differences between modalities emerged when processing East-Asian audio-visual emotion information, correlations revealed that bicultural bilinguals increased their reliance on the auditory modality with more daily exposure to East-Asian cultures. Greater interference from the irrelevant modality was observed for Asian faces paired with English speech than for Caucasian faces paired with Mandarin speech. We conclude that processing of emotion in bicultural bilinguals is guided by culture-specific norms, and that familiarity influences how the emotions of those who speak a foreign language are perceived and evaluated.

Chinese Regional Differences and Commonality in Field-Independence and Field-Dependence: An Implicit Biculturalism Model.

Comparative studies of cultural-cognitive systems in China have stressed differences between northern and southern regions, with less attention paid to inter-regional commonality. This study proposes an implicit biculturalism model to rectify the diversity bias. The model posits that Chinese in both regions have internalized the same two cultural-cognitive systems but have organized them differently. For northerners, the individualist/analytical system (indicated by field-independence) is more dominant and chronically accessible than the collectivist/holistic system (indicated by field-dependence); for southerners the hierarchical order is reversed. The more dominant system would normally manifest in everyday life as the default situation, but the less dominant system could be activated through cultural priming. Both field-independent northerners (N = 46) and field-dependent southerners (N = 46) were assigned randomly into individualistic and collectivistic priming conditions and then tested with the Embedded Figure Test (EFT). The results indicated field-independent northern Chinese changed their EFT performance to be field-dependent under collectivism priming, and field-dependent southern Chinese changed their EFT performance in the field-independent direction, albeit to a less extent, under individualism priming. Generally, these results supported the implicit biculturalism model, which provides a more nuanced understanding of the question of "Who are the Chinese in Chinese psychology?"

Acculturation and attitudes toward code-switching: A bidimensional framework.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: Code-switching, the spontaneous switching from one language to another within a single speech event, is often performed by bilinguals who have mastered a communicative competence in two languages. It is also a social strategy - using linguistic cues as a means to index social categories and group solidarity. Code-switching is, therefore, linked to attitudes, seen as a reflection of the speaker and their values and identities. Traditionally perceived negatively, attitudes toward code-switching have been shown to be acceptable in certain cases, such as in multilingual contexts. However, it has yet to be determined empirically whether attitudes toward code-switching are associated with individual social characteristics, including cultural identity and identity negotiation. Adopting the bidimensional model of acculturation, the goal of the study was to investigate the relationships among cultural identity and code-switching attitudes. Specifically, we sought to examine whether the bidimensional framework can be used to characterize and distinguish biculturals and whether such distinctions result in differences in code-switching attitudes and other related factors. DATA AND ANALYSIS: Cantonese-English bilinguals (n = 67) reported their language background and completed questionnaires relating to identity and code-switching. FINDINGS: The findings suggest the bidimensional model was successful in classifying biculturals versus non-biculturals and, additionally, that biculturals could be differentiated according to their strength of cultural identification, which we designated as strong biculturals, Canadian-oriented biculturals, Chinese-oriented biculturals, and weak biculturals. Findings also revealed significant group differences in code-switching attitudes and other factors, such as code-switching comfort and preference, among the bicultural subgroups. IMPLICATIONS: The study supports the hypothesis that code-switching is linked to bicultural identity. The results conclude that a more nuanced classification of biculturals is meaningful, as individual differences in cultural identification among biculturals are linked to significant differences in code-switching comfort, code-switching preference, code-switching attitudes, and multicultural attitudes.

Biculturalism and adjustment among U.S. Latinos: A review of four decades of empirical findings.

Incorporating both heritage (e.g., Latino) and national (e.g., American) cultural systems into our sense of self (i.e., bicultural identity) and developing the ability to successfully respond to demands associated with each of these systems (i.e., bicultural competence) have been theorized to be central to the development and positive adjustment of U.S. Latinos, a group that represents a large segment of the country's population. In this comprehensive review, we examined empirical research on biculturalism among U.S. Latinos spanning four decades (1980-2020), with a focus on synthesizing the field's understanding of antecedents and consequents associated with biculturalism and identifying directions for future research. Our review of 152 empirical articles revealed that this literature was characterized by multiple approaches to the conceptualization (i.e., dual-cultural adaptation, dual-cultural identity, bicultural identity integration, and bicultural competence) and subsequent operationalization of biculturalism. Although each conceptualization has different implications for the conclusions that can be drawn regarding an aspect or facet of biculturalism and potential influence on adjustment, a significant majority (78%) of studies, across conceptualizations, provided evidence supporting a positive association between biculturalism and Latinos' adjustment. In addition, a relatively small body of qualitative work was identified, and findings largely informed potential antecedents of biculturalism. We review this literature with attention to: the aspects of biculturalism that are associated with Latinos' adjustment (i.e., psychosocial and physical health), how sample characteristics may limit the generalizability of this work, and important directions for future research both in terms of conceptualization and study design.

Psychosocial stress, bicultural identity integration, and bicultural self-efficacy among Hispanic emerging adults.

Most studies on psychosocial stress among Hispanics have focused on risk factors. To better understand psychosocial stress among this population, this study aimed to examine components of bicultural identity integration and bicultural self-efficacy, that may be associated with lower psychosocial stress among Hispanic emerging adults (ages 18-25). This aim was tested on a cross-sectional sample of Hispanic emerging adults (Mage = 21.30, SD = 2.09) that included 200 participants (Arizona n = 99, Florida n = 101). The sample included men (n = 98) and women (n = 102). Most participants were US-born (70%), college students (69.5%), and of Mexican heritage (44%). Standardized coefficients from a hierarchical multiple regression model indicate that higher levels of the bicultural harmony component of bicultural identity integration (ß = -0.26, p < 0.001) and the social groundedness component of bicultural self-efficacy (ß = -0.23, p < 0.01) were associated with lower levels of psychosocial stress. To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine components of bicultural identity integration and bicultural self-efficacy and their respective associations with psychosocial stress among any racial/ethnic group. Thus, more studies are needed to replicate our findings to determine if bicultural identity integration and bicultural self-efficacy should be considered in psychosocial stress interventions for Hispanics.

A Critique of New Zealand's Exclusive Approach to Intercultural Education.

This article examines the intercultural initiatives, programmes and strategy documents in New Zealand education to answer the following two questions: What intercultural policies and strategy documents are offered to New Zealand schools and teachers to accommodate their diverse communities? Which communities do they include and/or exclude? It explores and discusses paradigms, policies and curriculum developments that have been developed to address the growing levels of diversity in New Zealand's schools and identifies some of the current significant gaps. This article argues that within the dominant Anglo-European framework, there are increasing intercultural initiatives supporting Maori and Pasifika communities within New Zealand schools but there are very limited policies and initiatives addressing the wider diverse communities. I argue that policies and initiatives should be all-encompassing, comprehensive and inclusive; that is, they must fairly encompass all members of the society and not be limited solely to specific groups. Moreover, the current policy statements are implemented in an ad hoc manner i.e. they are not supported through the systematic resource banks, leadership, teacher education and training and enabling strategies required to create societies that are more inclusive, with respectful intercultural relations. This article will be of interest to policy makers at a national level, those who work in schools and centres, and teacher educators who have a concern for the inclusion of ethnocultural minorities and intercultural education.

Alcohol use severity among Hispanic emerging adults: Examining the roles of bicultural self-efficacy and acculturation.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to (1) examine respective associations of acculturation orientations (e.g., U.S. orientation and Hispanic orientation) and domains (e.g., social groundedness and role repertoire) of bicultural self-efficacy, the perceived confidence to function effectively within the receiving culture and the heritage culture, with alcohol use severity among Hispanic emerging adults. This study also aimed to (2) examine potential moderating factors of respective associations among acculturation orientations and bicultural self-efficacy with alcohol use severity. METHOD: 200 Hispanic emerging adults from Arizona (n = 99) and Florida (n = 101) completed a cross-sectional survey. Inclusion criteria were being ages 18-25, self-identify as Hispanic or Latina/o, and currently living in Maricopa County or Miami-Dade County. Data were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression and moderation analyses. RESULTS: Findings indicate that neither of the acculturation orientations nor role repertoire had main effects with alcohol use severity. However, higher social groundedness was associated with lower alcohol use severity. Moderation analyses indicate that the interaction between the U.S. orientation and study site and the interaction between the Hispanic orientation and social groundedness were statistically significant in relation to alcohol use severity. CONCLUSIONS: Considering that the U.S. orientation was associated with alcohol use severity only in Arizona highlights the need for multisite studies on acculturation. Our findings demonstrate that other sociocultural processes such as acculturation can impact bicultural self-efficacy; and that the association between bicultural self-efficacy and alcohol merits further investigation. However, more thorough assessments of bicultural self-efficacy are needed to better understand its effects on alcohol.